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The Many Armors of Iron Man

The Many Armors of Iron Man

(What a Wardrobe)

By Phil Perich for the True Believers Blog

Anyone reading the current Invincible Iron Man comic title knows Tony Stark is now “cash poor” but his current armor now has the capabilities of all previous models. I thought this would be a good time to review some of Iron Man’s past armor designs.

Space Armor—Iron Man #142 (January 1981)

The Space Armor was designed for use outside of Earth’s atmosphere for extended periods of time. This armor would prove impractical anywhere else as the cybernetic controls were extremely sensitive. Tony would continually improve on the space armor design as newer models were seen during the Avengers Operation: Galactic Storm storyline and most recently when Tony spent some time in outer space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, then on his own.

Space Armor

Stealth Armor—Iron Man #152 (November 1981)

This armor was built of course so Iron Man could escape detection by radar or other scanning devices. It was impractical for Iron Man most of the time, as the stealth circuits took up so much space there was little to no room for weapons systems. And since it was a stealth armor it had to be black!

Stealth Armor

Hydro Armor—Iron Man #218 (May 1987)

While the other Iron Man armors could operate underwater for limited amounts of time, the hydro armor was specifically designed to deep sea rescue and salvage operations. It’s weapon systems were based on sea life including the electric field of an electric eel, a camouflage 'ink cloud' and small 'manta ray' torpedoes.

Hydro Armor

Telepresence Armor—Iron Man #290 (March 1993)

When Tony Stark was injured at one point and was no longer able to wear the Iron Man armor, he created a new suit of telepresence armor. Wearing a remote headset, he was able to operate the armor via remote control. All sensor information was relayed right to Tony’s brain. The downside? Damage to the armor caused pain to Tony which was also bad for his nervous system.

Telepresence Armor

Hulkbuster Armor—Iron Man #304 (May 1994)

This armor is probably the most recognized on this list after it’s appearance in the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. It’s one purpose is of course to allow Iron Man to hold his own in physical combat with the Hulk if necessary. While this suit has reduced mobility, it makes up for it in strength, with a lift capacity of 170 tons.

Hulkbuster Armor

Hope you found this list informative. If you would like to know about more Iron Man armors (and there are many more), let me know:

You can hear me and my cohost Charlie Esser (@CharlieEsser) talk all things Marvel on our podcasts, All New Marvel Roundup and Superconnectivity. I also write a DC Comics blog, Legends of DC. You can find all my podcasts, blogs, at www.southgatemediagroup.com and www.philperich.wordpress.com

I also write a weekly article on the superhero TV shows of the week titled the Super 5. you can find it at www.tvbinges.com